6 reasons to own a 24-hour watch

1. They're pretty unique

Unless you're incredibly well-versed in horology, you're not likely to have even heard of an analogue, 24-hour dial, let alone even seen one. They're incredibly rare. If rarity is something that you value in a timepiece, you can't go wrong with a 24-hour dial.

2. They're a great conversation-starter

Due to the rarity, it's sure to spark a conversation. Whether it's the single hand or having double the expected number of numerals, a 24-hour dial provokes a curious mind.

3. They positively change your perception of time itself

Man of Many summed this up brilliantly in their review of Jacopo Dondi's first collection of 24-hour watches:

The result of wearing the 24-hour dial and single hand is a dramatic shift in how time is perceived in relation to your day. You begin to view the day as an almost physical entity within which you exist and move. Soon the telling of time goes from when to where - your own movements reflected by the movements of the single hand revolving inside a wheel.

4. They can be used as a compass

They don't just tell the time! You can also use your watch as a compass! Depending on which hemisphere you're in, a different set of rules apply.

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE: Simply point the hand towards the position of the sun, and wherever the '24' marker is pointing, is North.

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE: Simply point the '12' marker towards the position of the sun, and wherever the hand is pointing, is North.

5. It was actually the original way of telling the time

The world's first clock contained a 24-hour dial. Designed and erected by Jacopo de'Dondi in Padua, Italy in 1344, the world was finally able to visualise time, and not rely on intervaled ringing bells. Sometime around the early 1500's, the clockmakers of France and Germany had started to use the 12-hour dial. By the late 1500's the whole of Europe had changed to using this more ambiguous method. There's no obvious reason as to why the switch happened, but the 24-hour dial would be relegated to the history books.

6. They just make sense

One hand that passes each marker once a day. Many people find it difficult to ever wear an instrument that must hit each marker twice a day ever again.